Do you want to start a solar business? If yes, you have landed at the right place. Find in this article a list of highly profitable solar business ideas you can start with low investment.
Solar Industry is growing very fast across the world. Solar happens to be the best source of green energy on the earth. The solar energy industry is broadly divided into three categories. They are solar for home, solar for business, and solar for power plants.
Read: Profitable Small-Scale Energy Business Ideas
Before diving into business opportunities in the solar industry, let us first understand the profitability aspect of the solar business in India.
Is Solar Business Profitable?
India is endowed with vast solar energy potential. About 5,000 trillion kWh per year of energy is incident over India’s land area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per Sq. m per day.
Hence, both technology routes for conversion of solar radiation into heat and electricity, namely, solar thermal and solar photovoltaics, can effectively be harnessed providing huge scalability for solar in India. Therefore, starting a solar business is a lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs.
Solar also provides the ability to generate power on a distributed basis and enables rapid capacity addition with short lead times. Off-grid decentralized and low-temperature applications will be advantageous from a rural electrification perspective and meet other energy needs for power and heating and cooling in both rural and urban areas.
List of 10 Solar Business Ideas
#1. Sell Solar Products
Billions of dollars of solar PV, solar thermal systems, solar attic fans, solar cooling systems, etc. are sold each year not to mention all the component parts required to build and operate such installations.
Add to that solar lights, solar gadgets, solar rechargers, and a growing list of related products and you have a lot to choose from. Tata BP Solar, Su-Kam, and Moser Baer are some of the reputed brands selling solar products in the country.
#2. Be a Solar Product Distributor
As more and more manufacturers of products emerge – they need distributors to get the products to the market. For example, I recently started corresponding with a company in Asia that produces technology that helps solar systems produce more electricity (2 to 5 times).
It is without saying, more and more solar energy-producing brands will be looking to build a network of distributors to develop customers for their products.
#3. Develop & Own Solar Projects
With Solar Energy – anybody can become a solar developer. Find a good location, put together a team of experts in developing a good business plan, raise the money, and build your project – use your experience and complete projects to leverage yourself into other solar projects.
#4. Sell After Market Products
There are products that can be sold to people who already have solar installations to increase their yields, reduce the need for cleaning, etc.
#5. Sell 3rd Party Provided Services
Besides selling products, you can also sell services provided by other companies – such as solar insurance products, solar cleaning, solar financing, etc.
#6. Invent Solar Products
Are you a bit of an inventor? There’s a whole bunch of new solar products being developed. Need an idea? Take a look at any existing product that needs power to operate and think about how you could use solar energy to provide that power. For example solar-powered cooling systems (I’m already working on that one personally).
#7. Independent Solar Consultant
A lot of people would like to know if it makes sense to install solar on their property. Additionally, people look for a professional opinion that looks at the various options and guides them through the entire process.
#8. Solar Panel Cleaning
As we discussed in this article before, clean solar panels produce more electricity than dirty panels. Therefore, many customers prefer to hire somebody to keep their solar panels clean rather than clean them themselves.
#9. Energy Auditor
Another service that is growing in demand is conducting energy audits. Basically, here you will make recommendations on how people can reduce their electrical consumption.
Read: How to Start Tata Solar Panel Dealership Business
#10. Solar Repairs
Solar systems last a long time. However, it required some maintenance from time to time. Especially on older systems, it might need upgrades with new inverters, wiring replacement, storm damage repairs, etc. Additionally, solar item repair is one of the most profitable solar business opportunities in India.
Editorial Staff at NextWhatBusiness is a team of Business Consultants having years of experience in small and medium scale businesses.